Dirty water
There was some nasty brown gunk coming out of our faucets the other morning. It cleared after a while, but not before we looked on the Portland water bureau website to see if there was any information about the problem there. Not a word. When we called the bureau, we got a gal on the phone who speculated that maybe some water main work that was being done about a dozen blocks from here might have been the problem. She seemed rather nonchalant about the whole thing -- told us that the water was perfectly safe to drink, even when it looked like there was sewage in it.
With what we pay for water, and with the legion of tweeters and flacks on the payroll at City Hall, you would think that accurate information would be readily available in a situation like this. Maybe a map showing where work is being done that day, and the customers who might be affected. Not the case. Skoal!
| Posted at 9:42 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (11)
Sorry information like that is flush, flush...
Posted by Tim | December 31, 2012 9:58 AM
Deferred maintenance problems showing up?
Expensive unneeded projects were the priority to Sam Rand and council.
Posted by clinamen | December 31, 2012 10:19 AM
You gotta understand that like water - money is different colors.
The money for Rose Festival HQs and club houses and bike lanes and big unnecessary contracts for reservoir consultants is brightly colored and easy to find.
The money for maintenance and efficiency well - We just can't find it.
Posted by Steve | December 31, 2012 10:24 AM
They gotta keep the Bog household supplied with sufficient mud to sling. Word was, you were on verge of running out of muck to rake.
Posted by ltjd | December 31, 2012 10:39 AM
Snowing in East Vancouver/Orchards.
Better get a Bojack9000 StormAlert up quick.
Posted by Mister Tee | December 31, 2012 12:25 PM
Did the woman by chance have an East Indian accent? Perhaps like the big banks, the water bureau is outsourcing the "customer support" team to a developing country.
Posted by Pom Mom of LO | December 31, 2012 1:11 PM
I am truly flabbergasted that this woman would blithely claim on the basis of no evidence whatsoever that your water was safe to drink. Did you ask her how she knew that? Be almost worth it to have it tested and file the ensuing complaints.
Posted by sally | December 31, 2012 2:03 PM
To be on the safe side, don't drink it. No one told a neighborhood (and denied everything afterwards). They were all too busy throwing up and going to the bathroom to realize it was everyone on their side of the block(the downhill side) It went on for over a week with at least one person with permanent hearing damage (a side effect to fecal matter in the ear?), sick pets with one dying. They were doing work which if too much pressure is used can dislodge some pretty nasty stuff. The tan sinks disguised the look of dirty water. Emails flew back and forth and despite, someone being sent out after a week to chlorinate in front of one of the houses, there was denial about anything being wrong (just a coincidence they all got it at once...without having any contact). Nothing of note on the news (apparently not noteworthy like a drop of pee in the reservoir).
$$ going for no public good while there's only money in the budget to replace pipes every several hundred years or so. So, if it looks brown.....you're on your own!! Don't expect your high rates to protect you or even get a warning.
Posted by Don'tDrinkTheWater | December 31, 2012 2:31 PM
I would never drink that water, I don't care what some idiot on the phone said. I wouldn't boil a vegetable in it. I wouldn't do anything with it except flush the toilet.
Posted by sally | December 31, 2012 6:30 PM
Nothing of note on the news. . .
No, we the public are not supposed to know too much of what is going on with PWB and our water, the debt and future plans. Too much silence is the name of the game. . .
. . . until they want to convince us that our community needs fluoride to drink!
Posted by clinamen | December 31, 2012 6:50 PM
My suggestion is if brown gunk comes out of faucets,
take a sample of it to an independent lab.
Posted by clinamen | January 2, 2013 4:34 PM